Making a chain of solidarity

Franck Bura from DRC campaigns for no dirty gold [Richard Greenwood]

CAFOD partner Franck Bura thanks supporters for standing shoulder to shoulder with mining communities

Franck is the co-ordinator of GRAPI - the Research and Action Group for Peace in the north-eastern DRC region of Ituri.

GRAPI researches the impact of gold mining, and trains activists to fight for the social and legal rights of communities.

People must benefit

Franck says: "For me in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the injustice is very easy to see in the suffering of my friends and neighbours in Ituri province.

"But I am full of hope, knowing that you in England and Wales know of our plight.

"It gives me and my fellow campaigners here the strength to know that thousands of miles away people are standing in solidarity with us, calling to account the governments and multinational companies who have power over our lives."

Franck is himself a former gold miner, turned human rights activist and history professor.

"Instead of being a benefit, mining is a curse. It has fuelled war and conflict and led to a high level of poverty for people. Some are living on 50 cents a day, and lots of children don't go to school in Ituri.

"There is no infrastructure such as roads. In recent years, the companies haven't invested in that at all."

Franck describes the harsh conditions endured by artisanal miners who moved in to exploit disused mines when war drove away the large corporations.

They are mainly men but women, too, help to break the rocks into dust and process it using a hazarous process involving mercury. Children carry sacks of broken rocks for crushing.

Nevertheless, Franck does not believe the answer is to stop mining gold. "Without it we don't have jobs. But the population must benefit from these resources."

Franck is urging CAFOD supports to continue backing the Unearth Justice campaign.

"People need to know that these companies are impoverishing people. People need to end the silence.

"We can win this battle with perseverance. It will be a long process, but with efforts from both north and south we can do it. Making a chain of solidarity can make change in Ituri."

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